How to Start a Custom Apparel Business

Starting a custom apparel business sounds exciting — who wouldn’t want to bring creativity, branding, and community spirit to life through shirts, hats, and hoodies? But the real story isn’t just about printing designs; it’s about learning, adapting, and building something that lasts. At Artemis Awards and Apparel, our apparel division was born not from a grand plan, but from listening to our customers and learning by doing.

Where It Started

Our custom apparel journey grew naturally out of our existing awards business. Customers who already trusted us with trophies and plaques began asking about team shirts and uniforms. We realized we could offer the same quality and reliability — just in fabric instead of metal. With no background in embroidery or screen printing, we jumped in completely from scratch.

Our first job? A summer basketball league — 50 shirts, countless mistakes, but a finished project that made it to the customer on time. It wasn’t perfect, but it was proof we could do it.

Overcoming the Learning Curve

Buying the equipment was scary. Screen printing presses, embroidery machines, and DTF printers aren’t cheap — and they come with steep learning curves. But we committed to learning everything ourselves: hours on YouTube, endless vendor calls, and a lot of trial and error.

We misprinted hundreds of garments early on, but we refused to let it affect our customers. Every mistake became part of our process improvement — and even today, we’re still refining how we work.

Building Something Unique

From the start, we focused on what we could control: turnaround time, transparency, and accessibility. Those three values have become our north star.

We originally tried working with local vendors for printing and embroidery, but slow lead times and inconsistent quality pushed us to take everything in-house. Now, we offer screen printing, embroidery, DTF, and DTG entirely under one roof — giving customers faster turnaround and better quality control.

On the business side, we’ve built custom software to manage pricing and proofs. Our internal quoting system calculates screen printing prices more accurately than traditional grids, and our in-house proofing tool keeps projects organized and customer-approved before production.

From Side Project to Sustainable Business

We didn’t go all-in overnight. We waited until there was enough consistent demand before buying new machines or expanding services. Each investment paid for itself before we moved up — from a single-head embroidery machine and manual press to a multi-machine production floor.

What sets us apart today isn’t just what we make — it’s how we serve. We’re not the cheapest shop in the game, and that’s okay. We’ve learned that our real value is in reliability, flexibility, and genuine care for deadlines. If someone needs 100 shirts by Friday, we’ll do everything in our power to make it happen.

Why It’s Worth It

We’ve been fortunate to help hundreds of nonprofits, local teams, and businesses bring their ideas to life. There’s nothing like seeing your work out in public — a local event shirt, a school team jersey, a volunteer uniform — knowing you made that possible.

The biggest lessons?

• Keep it simple.

• Say no when you need to.

• Don’t undersell yourself.

• Ask for reviews.

• And never stop asking for help.

Final Thoughts

Starting a custom apparel business isn’t about being an expert from day one — it’s about learning, failing, adjusting, and growing. Every misprint, every late night, every customer story builds the foundation. If you’re thinking of starting your own, start small, listen to your customers, and commit to doing things the right way — one shirt at a time.